Fusanosuke Gotō
Fusanosuke Gotō (後藤 房之助, Gotō Fusanosuke, November 15, 1879 in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture – July 30, 1924 in Kurihara) was a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army memorialized by the Memorial Statue of the Hakkoda Death March in Aomori, Japan.
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In January 1902, 210 soldiers in the 5th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion became trapped on the Hakkōda Mountains; this was the start of the Hakkōda Mountains incident. Search parties discovered Gotō. The discovery led to the rescue of the other soldiers.[1] His arms and legs were amputated as a result of frostbite.
After the incident, he retired from the army, returned to his hometown, became a member of the village assembly, and later died from cerebral hemorrhage.[2]
In Jirō Nitta's Death March on Mount Hakkōda: A Documentary Novel, a semi-fictional account of the disaster, Gotō is portrayed by the character Corporal Etō.[3]
References
- "Sightseeing Spots Archived 2008-09-24 at the Wayback Machine." City of Aomori. Retrieved on November 10, 2008.
- 生死の境を抜けて/惨劇の記憶 わずかに (in Japanese). toonippo. 2002-01-24. Archived from the original on 2005-04-27. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- Nitta, Jirō. Translated by James Westerhoven. Death March on Mount Hakkōda. Google Books. via Stone Bridge Press, LLC. 1992. 193.